Professor Chris Stringer

Yes. So in 2010, we got the first high-quality reconstruction of a Neanderthal genome. And now we've got several Neanderthal individuals with high-quality genomes from Europe and from Asia. And of course, it's even now possible to get DNA from cave sediments.

So this is a great thing for the future, that even at a site where you haven't got a single Neanderthal fossil, you could have a trace of those Neanderthals if they were at the site at all. Maybe they urinated in the cave. Maybe a woman gave birth in the cave. That could have left a trace which can be picked up from DNA. So you don't even need Neanderthal fossils now.

So this is a great thing for the future, that even at a site where you haven't got a single Neanderthal fossil, you could have a trace of those Neanderthals if they were at the site at all. Maybe they urinated in the cave. Maybe a woman gave birth in the cave. That could have left a trace which can be picked up from DNA. So you don't even need Neanderthal fossils now.

So this is a great thing for the future, that even at a site where you haven't got a single Neanderthal fossil, you could have a trace of those Neanderthals if they were at the site at all. Maybe they urinated in the cave. Maybe a woman gave birth in the cave. That could have left a trace which can be picked up from DNA. So you don't even need Neanderthal fossils now.

And this means in the future, we'll have an even better picture of their range from looking at sites where we've just got Neanderthal archaeology. The sediments in those caves may well contain their DNA as well.

And this means in the future, we'll have an even better picture of their range from looking at sites where we've just got Neanderthal archaeology. The sediments in those caves may well contain their DNA as well.

And this means in the future, we'll have an even better picture of their range from looking at sites where we've just got Neanderthal archaeology. The sediments in those caves may well contain their DNA as well.

That's right, yes. And so we've had an explosion of data in the last 10 years, and that explosion is going to carry on.

That's right, yes. And so we've had an explosion of data in the last 10 years, and that explosion is going to carry on.

That's right, yes. And so we've had an explosion of data in the last 10 years, and that explosion is going to carry on.

Yeah, so the Neanderthals, obviously, as I mentioned, they go back hundreds of thousands of years. And so they must have diversified in that time. But what's interesting is that the picture we have of the late Neanderthals is that there's actually quite low diversity. So a lot of those early lineages have either disappeared or we haven't found their traces of them yet.

Yeah, so the Neanderthals, obviously, as I mentioned, they go back hundreds of thousands of years. And so they must have diversified in that time. But what's interesting is that the picture we have of the late Neanderthals is that there's actually quite low diversity. So a lot of those early lineages have either disappeared or we haven't found their traces of them yet.

Yeah, so the Neanderthals, obviously, as I mentioned, they go back hundreds of thousands of years. And so they must have diversified in that time. But what's interesting is that the picture we have of the late Neanderthals is that there's actually quite low diversity. So a lot of those early lineages have either disappeared or we haven't found their traces of them yet.

The Neanderthals are relatively, you know, compared with Homo sapiens today, the Neanderthals have much lower variation. Some of their populations in the last 20,000 years are even quite inbred. So they're having to breed with close relatives, which is not good for the gene pool, of course.

The Neanderthals are relatively, you know, compared with Homo sapiens today, the Neanderthals have much lower variation. Some of their populations in the last 20,000 years are even quite inbred. So they're having to breed with close relatives, which is not good for the gene pool, of course.

The Neanderthals are relatively, you know, compared with Homo sapiens today, the Neanderthals have much lower variation. Some of their populations in the last 20,000 years are even quite inbred. So they're having to breed with close relatives, which is not good for the gene pool, of course.

So we think that in the last 20,000 years, the Neanderthals were relatively low in diversity, probably relatively low in numbers.

So we think that in the last 20,000 years, the Neanderthals were relatively low in diversity, probably relatively low in numbers.

So we think that in the last 20,000 years, the Neanderthals were relatively low in diversity, probably relatively low in numbers.

Yes, that's right. So at the moment, looking at radiocarbon dates on Neanderthal sites and where we have Neanderthal archaeology, at least in Europe, it's very difficult to find good evidence of them after 40,000 years ago. Now, we can't say the same as we go further east because the record is much less well dated. So in Iraq, they're around probably until 45,000 years ago, possibly younger.